Best Camera Drones 2019 – A Buyer’s Comprehensive Guide

Drone cameras in 2019 can be compared with mobile phones in the early 2000’s. They became famous all over the world as you can spend hours playing around with them and never get bored. With a camera drone you can video aerial movies or else take aerial shots. Camera drones are not cheap, however there are some that can suit everyone’s budget.

We made a list of the best drone cameras if you plan to buy one in 2019. Some of them are quite expensive while others are much cheaper. Although some of these drone cameras are made for professionals, they also suit the enthusiasts due to their amazing and easy to use cameras.

First of all you need to decide if you want high-end stuff like DJI and GoPro, or else entry-level toy drones that are targeted towards people who just want to have some fun in their spare time.

Top 5 drone cameras for 2019

Feel free to check the top 5 camera drones in the below top-list. Or else continue scrolling down for an in-depth review for each camera drone, that according to us are the best five you can get this year.

Reviews of Camera Drones 2019

This is the editors favourite camera drone for the simple reason that it’s the perfect balance between a professional camera drone and a fun one. This drone is small yet very powerful, with a range of 4.3m/7km you can easily turn the blue sky into a canvas, especially when you take into consideration the fact that it is equipped with a fully HD 1080/720p video streaming!

Drones use a satellite GPS to know where to stay when they are flying outdoors, this helps them fly stable, but indoors there are no satellites, however this doesn’t change a thing for the DJI Mavic Pro, it’s as stable as a concrete wall!

It’s size is amazing, it’s crazy how portable this camera drone is as you can fold it up to a very small size. When you open the props it’s as big as a normal drone, so it’s very easy to carry around yet it doesn’t look like a small toy when in use.

Noise is another factor that you should consider when looking for a drone. The Mavic Pro is very silent when compared with other drones, which is another plus.

No major criticisms about this drone, it’s for that reason that it’s the Editor’s Choice; best camera drone ever.

Pros

Cons

Very small, light and portable, can even fit in your pocket

View is a bit narrow when compared with other drones, such as the DJI Phantom 4 which seems to show a wider shot

Although small, materials are made of high quality, it does not feel cheap at all

Very stable outdoors even in moderate winds

Very stable indoors when compared with other drones

Not very expensive, yet it's a very high end drone

Speed of the lenses are 2.2 which makes it very ideal for low-light shots

High range when compared with other drones, approx 4.3 miles or 7km

Landing is very easy, almost impossible to tip it over due to it's shape

Perfect for newbies, ideal for professionals! The Phantom 4 offers smart flying over and around obstacles with just a click. This intelligent drone is able to sense and react to its environment and this is what makes it ideal for those who are new to camera drones! This drone can also be used indoors due to it’s intelligent flight support system i.e. a dual satellite positioning system and an enhanced Vision Positioning System (now it has 4 sensors together with sonar technology).

It is also equipped with an active track feature. This will ‘draw’ a square around an object and keeps on videoing it even if it is moving, or even if the object is an engined power vehicle i.e. moving at fast speed. The Phantom 4 is also equipped with a ‘return to home’ feature. When you press this button the drone will return back to you (the controller). (Hopefully this doesn’t send the signal to the drone to go to your physical home address especially if you are on vacation).

Another thing that we love about this drone is it’s super glossy white, it makes it look much nicer when compared with other drones. It looks very professional as well, so in case you want a camera drone for weddings or to sell your photography services, this is the ideal drone for you.

Pros

Cons

Easy to fit in a small bag. some parts can easily be dismanteled

If you are flying the drone fast you might get it's props in the shots

High quality materials used

It is quite heavy to carry around, so it's less portable when compared with others such as the Mavic Pro

Tap to fly feature, it goes where you tap on the screen

Controller is as big as the drone, DJI Mavic Pro controller is much easier to handle and use

It has active track which will track moving objects with a single click

'Return to home' functionality makes it safer especially if you lose orientation

As you can imagine, the DJI Phantom 4 Pro is an upgraded version of the above camera drone, the DJI Phantom 4. We are going to highlight the main additional features to this camera drone.

The camera of the Phantom 4 Pro is completely new. This camera drone can film 4k with 65 frames per second (fps), the Phantom 4 can also film in 4k however only in 24, 25, 30 fps i.e. the Phantom 4 Pro camera is much better when it comes to videoing in slow motion.

The field of view is also improved. Both lenses are equal on the Phantom 4’s, however the Phantom 4 Pro have different sensors i.e a lens of 24mm when compared with the 20mm of the Phantom 4.

You can also go for the Phantom 4 Pro Plus, which would mean a 5.5 inch 1080p built-in screen within your remote control. Yes that’s the only difference between the Phantom 4 Pro and the Phantom 4 Pro Plus.

Pros

Cons

Use of titanium alloy and magnesium which increase rigidity and reduces weight

It's quite heavy when compared with other drones, approx weight is that of 1388g. This is not ideal for portability

Better obstacle sensing, comes with a total of 5-way obstacle avoidance when compared with the 2-way of the Phantom 4

Only for Plus Version - The built-in screen of the Plus version cannot be replaced with your favourite device

Able to shoot 4k videos at 60fps is very impressive

Only for Plus Version - The built-in screen flight simulator is quite 'lazy' when compared with the non-screen remote version, which in return won't let you practice properly

Long flight time, 30mins

Ideal for low light situations

Only for Plus Version - Remote controller with a built-in-screen which also adds 5.8 GHz transmission support

Phantom 4 Pro really pushes the limit when it comes to picture and video quality. However it’s up to you to decide between the Phantom 4 and the Phantom 4 Pro, as it depends what you plan to use it for. However with the above highlighted differences, we believe that we made your choice much easier.

This is a professional drone i.e. it does not make much sense to use it for selfies, it’s ideal for movie makers! Inspire 1, for those who have heard of it, was revolutionary. However the Inspire 2 takes everything that was good about the Inspire 1 and improves it, as you would expect.

The processing system was improved and now it can record up to 5.2K. It’s acceleration is also jaw-dropping as it can go from 0 to 50mph (80kph) in just 5 seconds! A dual battery system prolongs the flight time to a maximum of 27 minutes (with an X4S), while self-heating technology allows it to fly even in low temperatures as well.

Great stability and great speed – this drone is very stable and very fast, which is another reason why it is ideal for movie-makers. You can follow a speeding car very easily as this drone’s top speed is 94km/h.

With a fast drone you also need safety measures, and this drone does not lack that. It’s self heating technology makes sure that batteries don’t fail, and if one battery fails you have another backup battery which takes over. The Dji Inspire 2 is also equipped with obstacle avoidance sensors to avoid any collisions while flying.

This is definitely one of the best cinematic cameras that you can get in 2019.

This is the ideal camera drone for beginners. It’s not expensive at all, very professional and very stable.

Okay let’s start! This camera drone comes with hands-free take off and also hands-free landing, so that’s the first reason why it’s ideal for beginners. Once you’re more confident flying this drone you can start taking-off and also landing it manually. It also comes with the standard app where you can control this drone together with it’s remote.

In the specs of our drones top-list you can see that the range is approximately just half a kilometre, so what happens if you go past that range? Will you lose your drone forever?! NO! First you will see a warning on your device that your drone is getting out of range, if you ignore this warning, and your aircraft goes out of signal, it remembers it coordinates and return back from where it came from, and you have to do nothing! Just sit and wait for your drone to return back. This is obviously a safety feature so we would not test it unless you really want to, but in case you lose range of your drone, you can have your mind at rest that you won’t lose your drone (hopefully!). This is another reason why it’s ideal for beginners.

Pros

Cons

Battery life is amazing when compared with similar entry drones

Range is short

Have a physical control when compared with similar entry drones which can only be operated via a smartphone app

Video and camera are not ideal for shooting professional videos

Very stable

Ability to follow you, just like pro drones

Ideal for those who are not so keen on photography, but just want to have some fun playing around with a drone

If you love photography, this drone is still ideal as, for a beginners drone, it's still able to shoot high quality footage

Return home feature if signal is being lost

This is the drone that you want to buy if you’re a beginner and the camera drone that you want to learn how to fly and shoot with!

This is the Hover Drone, Potensic F181DH 5.8GHz FPV Monitor 4CH 6-Axis Gyro RC Quadcopter Drone with HD Camera and 3D Flips Function! Or easier to refer to it as another camera drone which is ideal for beginners. This is actually a hover drone, so it does sound a little bit different than the others. The altitude hold of this drone works quite accurate even when being used in a light breeze, which is awesome. Range is quite okay for beginners at 200 metres. It’s size is also quite decent for it’s price and also it’s weight shows some quality (it doesn’t look like it’s going to fly away when used in strong winds).

So which camera drone should you buy?

It depends on your wants and needs, hence why we highlighted the pros and cons for each camera drone. However our favourite one is definitely the Mavic Pro! It can fit in the palm of your hands (look how small it is in the below picture) while still being made up of high quality materials, high quality shots and video recording, along with other tons of cool features. It just ticks all the boxes.

DJI Phantom 4 Pro is also one of the newest drones in the markets that amazed everyone. It is definitely worth a look of your time, the only thing why it’s not our first option is because of the price when compared with the Mavic Pro (so if you can afford it, go for it!). This drone is also ideal if you want to use it for selling your photography services such as in weddings or other events, with just the look of the drone your clients will be impressed.

The Inspire 2 is on the other hand ideal for those who are interested in cinematography and professional video shooting. This is the most professional one on our list. It’s just a magnificent beauty that can be used for the movie-making industry. We can assure you that the next time you go to the cinema this year, you will be seeing some shots from this camera drone without you even realising.

Our last reviews, the Phantom 3 Standard and the Potensic 5.8GHz are also drones that we fell in love with, they are simple to use yet a very nice looking drones armed with features that makes them the perfect drones for beginners! Of course, being the ideal ones for beginners they cannot be compared with the Mavic Pro or Phantom 4 Pro when it comes to features, styling and range.

Hope we helped you decide which drone to buy. No matter which one you get, we are sure that you will get many hours of fun flying these amazing things! If you have any questions feel free to comment below or drop by the contact us page and we will get back to you asap!

Here are some tips before you start flying your drone

1. Read the Manual! We cannot emphasise enough on this one. It’s very common that once you get your drone delivered, you try to fly it asap. If this was an iPad or a smartphone, you can get away with it. However with a drone you can’t. One wrong turn and your drone will be gone forever. So be patient, read the manual carefully and if your drone is equipped with a flight simulator, practice as much as you can before you fly your drone.

2. Our second tip is to make sure you are aware of what laws your country have regarding flying drones. There might be some places where you can’t fly your aircraft and if you plan to use it for events or weddings, you might require a permission.

3. Our last tip is not to risk flying your drone up until the battery is completely dead. Make sure you leave enough time for the drone to return back to you, and some spare time. If you are familiar with the sea law, there is what we call the 1/3 rule. This means that you need to plan your fuel on 1/3 basis. 1/3 of the fuel will be used to arrive at your destination, another 1/3 to get back and the last 1/3 is the spare third! So think along these lines for safety reasons.

Thanks! Personal preferences plays a good role when choosing your best drone! There are some factors which, in our opinion, Mavic wins. But other battles the Phantom 4 Pro wins them big time, it’s a close call depending on your personal preferences. Thanks again for reading our guide 🙂